Special Blessing

For those who don't know her "story" yet:

On Monday I went in to fetal diagnostics for a routine appointment (I had been going twice a week since they diagnosed her with low amniotic fluid). Her heart beat was great but in the ultrasound they couldn't find any good pockets of fluid and said her level was at zero. I was a bit shocked since just a few days before she was at a 10.7 and doing fantastic. Anyway, the nurse called the perinatologist who recommended delivery as opposed to hooking me up to an IV to increase fluids. Since she was considered full term, it was better to get her out rather than risk infection.

Imagine my surprise to know that I was about to see our baby girl much sooner than anticipated! I think I freaked out for a bit but it was more because I thought something was wrong and that she was in trouble. Once they reassured me that she was doing just fine, I calmed down a little. I called Brian at work and told him our parenting days were about to start...he was pretty shocked too!

Uh, are we sure we're ready?!

They took me down to labor and delivery (where I discovered that one of my good friends was there in labor at the same time!) and checked me out. I was already 3cm dilated so they started me on pitocin to induce my labor at 7pm, Monday night.

Before the pitocin kicked in...

I labored through the night (yes, with an epidural) and was ready to start pushing around 8am Tuesday morning. The nurse came in and explained how she needed me to push then we "practiced" once or twice. She looked at me and said, "if you push exactly like that, she'll be here in less than 10 minutes." What? You're on lady! She called the doctor in a few minutes later. I pushed three or four more times and Anayah Marie made her entrance into this world...at 8:16am.

We're enjoying our time with our new bundle of joy so I might be MIA for a few days or weeks...see you soon!

Here She Is!

Anayah Marie

5lbs, 5oz, 18.5in

July 27, 2010

8:16 am

Story and more pics to follow...gonna go enjoy our new family for now! Thanks for all your love and support!

Just For Fun

So at my last baby shower, I told the girls that baby girl's name starts with the letter "A" and has six letters. I also shared that her middle name will be "Marie." We wanted a fun, unique name that wasn't too weird but that wasn't so common either. I thought it would be fun to see if people would guess which name we chose just knowing us and our criteria. Anyway, here are some names for you to choose from. (finding several "A" names with six letters was harder than I thought!) Which one of these do YOU think we chose??

1. Ashlyn
2. Ameena
3. Ansley
4. Anayah
5. Averie
6. Alanna
7. Ambria
8. Avanni

Here's a glimpse at a few details in her new room...maybe it will give you some inspiration! :)

Any guesses? We'd love to hear why you chose the one you did! Something to keep me occupied while I count down the days. Can't wait to hear your guesses! :)

Being Creative

I've been trying to work on projects that don't require a lot of strenuous activity. This has limited me to pretty much sewing and more sewing. The problem is I'm kind of sewn-out right now. I don't have any motivation to sew anything...probably because it's the only thing I know I'm allowed to do. So, I had to start getting creative. I knew there were things I could do sitting down that didn't involve my sewing machine right?! Case in point:

I was able to get some of baby girl's artwork taken care of

And spray paint a few of the baskets that are going on her shelves...(yes, I wore a mask!)

I even managed to organize her changing table area (after her daddy put it together, of course)

See, there are things I can do while on limited activity, I just had to be creative! Anxiously waiting on her bumper to arrive so I can put it all together. A successful "project" day though, and I even managed to still drink my water quota and rest in between! Doc would be proud.

Week 36: Almost Ready

We only have a handful of weeks left until our big arrival gets here. I feel like I'm ready physically and mentally...well, as ready as I'll ever be...but I don't feel like our house (mainly her room) is ready. There were so many different things I had wanted to finish around the house before she got here and we've only done about half of them. Oh well, I guess I need to let it go. Her room is almost finished so I guess the other projects can wait a few more weeks months.

This will probably be our last "pregnancy update" so I'll leave you with these stats:

- weight gain: 9 lbs
- as of Monday her amniotic fluid levels were at their highest (guess 2 gallons of water a day really helps)
- noticed she is sitting lower...making that drop
- feeling bigger/stronger movements from her but she still doesn't move for anyone else (sorry B)
- she enjoys letting me know when my bladder is full...less room in there for her I guess

That's about it for now. Gonna try to work on a few "small" projects (while drinking water, of course!)...

Shopping Spree

My mom came up yesterday and we went shopping to finish getting the "essentials" for baby girl. Two diaper champs (I couldn't decide on a color at the time) and several pacifiers later, we made it back in from the heat! (yes, we bought other things too) It was nice to spend girl time together and just hang out...thanks mom!

After shopping, baby girl I was tired so I rested (and drank another gallon of water) before I started tackling her curtains. I've started doing a few more things around the house since her fluid levels have been pretty stable lately. As long as I continue to drink two gallons of water a day...yes, I said two gallons...and still rest for a portion of the day, all is good.

Ok, rest time over. Commence project curtains. Mind you, this project has been in the works for several months now. It took forever to decide on a fabric then it sat in her room for a few weeks while I decided if I was going to keep it. Then it sat on the floor for another few weeks waiting to be pinned and sewed. Finally after a long wait, I was ready. I bought these handy dandy things to finish the tops. They are so easy to use and pretty cheap too...I got mine at Joann's (with a coupon, of course!).

Curtains, done.

We also tackled a few other things in her room and it's finally starting to take shape the way I saw it in my mind. There are a few more finishing touches that need to happen, but it's getting there. More pictures coming soon!

Lightning + Winds = No Fun

So B and I are driving home from being in Orange County for doctors appointments. It's about 4:00ish and the thermometer reads oh somewhere around 102. Good times. As we are getting closer to our city, there seems to be some "commotion" up ahead.

"Is that rain?!" B says. Ummm nope, looks like dirt.

Up ahead the visibility is practically a zero with all the dust/dirt/sand that is swirling about across the freeway! Trees are bent over and some are even broken in half! The both of us are just amazed at this mini tornado that is whipping across the freeway talking about how the weather is so weird. I mean, the thermometer has now dropped almost ten degrees.

All of a sudden we see a flash of light...huh?! Lightning?? Really? Now I am no meteorologist but in all my experiences, lightning has been coupled with rain not dirt. Maybe we were seeing things.

So what do we do? Get off the freeway? Pull over till it passes? Nah, we just keep driving...right through it.

Geniuses we are.

B sees another flash of lightning as we get closer to our exit. As we round the corner and start to exit, I notice smoke right about where that flash of lightning had been. "Hey look, a fire!" Captain obvious strikes again.

Apparently the lightning struck a utility pole and some trees which caused a fire near some homes. No bueno. Home please!

As we pull into our neighborhood we notice a few of the neighbors standing around outside. Rubber neckers. It's not like we can see the fire from where we are, people. Umm, Bri, the garage door won't open. Aww man, the electricity is out! Tornado, fire, now no electricity. Do you know how hot it will be inside?! Guess that explains the neighbors in the street. Nice.

The temperature had dropped into the high 80s at this point so we decided to hang out on the porch, since there was a small tornado nice breeze anyway and wait for the power to come back on. After about an hour, preggo decided she had had enough. B was content playing his PSP but my book wasn't interesting and I was getting hungry.

We picked up our good friends and neighbors and headed to Chipotle for dinner. Chipotle fixes anything :) Plus I convinced myself I couldn't really cook without power anyway (yes, our stove is gas, but whatever!) Power was restored by the time we got back. Thank God! Sweating in my sleep didn't sound appealing!

All in all, an interesting day. Thanks for the calls from those who were concerned about us...we're ok! Most excitement I've seen in a while! Here are a couple pics of the fire just because...

No, I wasn't near the fire...they are "borrowed" images from Google :) Oh, apparently thunderstorms are now a possibility this weekend. Looking forward to that.

Visitors

Whoo whoo company came over! Erika came to visit today to entertain me keep me company since I'm still on "limited activity." Can you tell I'm just a teensy bit excited to have human interaction? Being cooped up in the house all day is BO.ring. The highlight of my week is going to the hospital to get monitored because it means that I can see real, live, people and have face-to-face conversations...even if it is about random things like amniotic fluid and what the nurse ate for lunch. Whatever, bring it on! Anyway, I'm excited that I had a visitor...thanks E for spending time with me!

And here's the order that I finally finished! Thanks Sarah for being so patient with me!!

Hopefully I can finish baby girl's curtains this week as well...

Baby Shower:: Part 2

I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends!! Today I had the pleasure of attending baby girl's third shower thrown by some of my closest friends. It was nice to be around friends...ok, let's be honest, people in general...but especially nice to be around people you love and appreciate and have fun with! We had a great time and the girls did such a fantastic job putting the whole thing together!! Thank you ladies! Baby girl and I had a fabulous time...it was perfect! Here are a few pictures, but for more you can visit Carrie's or Marisa's blog to see what they have posted.

(College roomies...plus a new addition :) )

 (One of many a.dor.a.ble outfits for baby girl)

(My girls from high school)

Thank you again for such an amazing day filled with good food, great friends, and fantastic memories! 

♥ you all! 

Picture Day

A few weeks back...before the days of limited activity...Bri and I ventured down to San Diego to meet up with one of my old high school friends who is now a FAN.TAS.TIC photographer. Jackie and I played volleyball together and even though she was a year (or two?) younger, we always had fun hanging out. She was always so funny and sweet and nothing has changed to this day. You have to check out her blog or website! She is just phenomenal. Thanks Jax for making this time around a wonderful experience! ;) hehe

Anyway, here are a few shots from the day:

To check out a few more, visit her blog and give her some love!

DIY: Laundry Boxes

Yes, I'm still on limited activity. No, I haven't been doing any projects that require me to do more than sit (like at my sewing machine) or lie down. BUT, just because I can't do a project doesn't mean projects are not being worked on around here! Enter my fabulous hubby:

Hey, buddy, doesn't look like working to me! :)

Bri has been a real trooper in listening to me whine talk about how I can't do any projects and "nothing will be done in time" before baby girl gets here. He knows that sitting around is driving me crazy but he also knows that of course I will do it if it helps the health of our child. So, he has been more than helpful by tackling some of the projects I have on "the list."

First up, laundry boxes. You know those pedestals for the front loader machines that cost like $300 each?!

Right, those. Well, my dad made us a couple when we bought our machines because let's face it, I am way too cheap to pay that ridiculous price! Anyway, our friends just bought a new house and wanted similar boxes for their new machines. Since I'm not allowed to lift anything heavier than my water bottle, Bri tackled them for me while I gave orders observed from the sidelines.

Measuring and cutting and gluing and nailing and sanding and painting...

So that our friends could have these bad boys to put in their new laundry room. Hope they like em!

 Don't worry, we painted and finished them before delivery! :) They look more like this now:

Thanks honey, you're awesome!!